PSEi gains on robust overseas markets

Share prices on the Philippine Stock Exchange rose for the fourth straight session Wednesday, buoyed by the robust performance New York stocks overnight that helped the PSE index breach the 4,100 resistance level. The PSE index gained 21.83 points or 0.53 percent to close at 4,113.69, according to the PSE's online market information as of 12:10 p.m. More than 2.024 billion shares valued at P4.271 billion changed hands. Advancers outpaced decliners 89 to 39, while 43 issues remained unchanged. "The Dow [Jones Industrial Average] on Tuesday rose to its highest level since Aug. 29, 2008. This positive sentiment in the US market gave psychological effects to the Philippine market," Summit Securities Inc. president Harry Liu said. The Dow rose 55.03 or 0.5 percent to close at 11,533.16 as Toronto-Dominion Bank said it is buying Chrysler Financial, the automaker's old lending arm, from Cerberus Capital Management LP for $6.3 billion. Window-dressing also continued to support share prices, Liu added. He, however, said market sentiment in general remains cautious as investors wait out the country's fourth quarter GDP or gross domestic product results. "Investors have been running out of positive leads for them to buy up stocks," Liu said. The PSEi will continue to range between 4,000 and 4,200 for the remaining days of the year, according to AB Capital Securities Inc. — JE/VS, GMANews.TV